Govt suggests cuts in wellbeing services, social security benefits

The four-party alliance government led by the Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) proposed to strengthen public finances by saving up to 11 billion euros from different public sectors during the next government tenure.

The Ministry of Finance released its Expenditure and Structural Survey and Tax Survey report on Monday, which examines general government finances as a whole including central government administration, wellbeing services counties, municipalities and social security funds, said Ministry in a press release.

The ministry made about 400 proposals to bring various sectors under austerity measures such as, social security benefits, the last resort of benefits for low-income people, healthcare, social welfare, education, general housing allowance and state pension system.

According to the proposals, political decision-makers will be faced with numerous important decisions in the coming years as they seek to respond to evolving global challenges and build a better future.

General government expenditure as a share of GDP has been higher than revenue since 2009, said the ministry, adding this means that the public sector’s financing base has been insufficient to sustain its functions in their current form without a high level of indebtedness.

“Finland has many strengths to build its future on, and the solutions are fortunately still in our own hands. Public finances are in a weak state. We have not been bold enough over the past decades in making reforms and prioritising what we use our shared resources on,” said Director General of the Budget Department Mika Niemelä.

In February 2026, the Parliamentary Working Group on Fiscal Policy agreed on a preliminary target for the general government budgetary position with the aim of strengthening public finances. Based on the preliminary target, public finances would need to be adjusted by about EUR 8–11 billion in the next parliamentary term.

The scale of the necessary adjustments is such that every area of public funding will have to be examined. No part of the public sector can be entirely excluded from consideration.

The Expenditure and Structural Survey is not a recommendation of the Ministry of Finance or a proposal for what measures to implement. The survey presents a wide range of options for adjustments and estimates of how they would impact public finances.

The Tax Survey includes an extensive range of options to strengthen public finances and also contains a list of tax expenditures.

In addition to presenting options for tax increases, the survey includes an extensive package of information on the tax system and different tax categories.